The Everyman and Playhouse Youth Theatre is a
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
-based stage and drama company for young people in
Merseyside
Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...
. Located at Liverpool's
Everyman Theatre, the Youth Theatre is open to teenagers and provides weekly sessions in a wide variety of skills, covering everything from storytelling to
stage combat
Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet pr ...
. It gives members the opportunity to act, direct, dance, design, sing, improvise, and work on a range of scripts from
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
to brand-new plays.
Productions
Each year, the entire youth theatre cast presents full-scale productions for the Everyman stage. These have included ''
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
'' in October 2007, and ''
Monkey!'' as part of the
Capital of Culture Year programme in 2008. The group was closely involved in the development of
Frank Cottrell-Boyce's ''Proper Clever'', his first script for the stage which was produced at the
Playhouse in October 2008. Senior members of the Youth Theatre presented their first studio production,
Timberlake Wertenbaker's ''
The Love of the Nightingale'', at the Everyman Theatre in 2009.
February 2012 saw the YEP's (Young Everyman Playhouse) inaugural production, a site specific piece called ''Intimate'' held at Camp and Furnace, which the ''Liverpool Daily Post'' described as "a piece of promenade theatre, that invites the audience to walk in their shoes – whether serving in the armed forces, waiting for a loved one to return from service or understanding what a war on the other side of the world means". The ''Liverpool Echo'' reviewed ''Intimate'', giving it 8/10 and calling it "powerful". In March 2012, YEP performed a devised promenade piece called ''You Are Being Watched'', which was a look at how apparent CCTV is in modern-day Britain. ''Made Up: On Stage in Liverpool'' described ''You Are Being Watched'' by saying, "Devised by the company's Young Actors, the show made the best of everything at its disposal. Some entertaining performances, good use of effects and sound, and an imaginative premise made it easy to enjoy."
History
Everyman Youth Theatre
Originally set up in the mid-1970s, Liverpool's Everyman Youth Theatre quickly became one of Britain's most successful youth theatres, with over 300 members at its peak.
[Baxter, Lew]
"Everyman Theatre nurturing stars of the future"
''LiverpoolDailyPost.co.uk'', 22 October 2007 (Retrieved: 17 July 2009) It ran for nearly twenty years, until the Everyman Theatre went into liquidation and closed its doors in 1993.
New Everyman Youth Theatre
After having nurtured and encouraged so much young talent on Merseyside, there was great disappointment at the loss of the facility for young people. By 1998 a devoted group of supporters founded the New Everyman Youth Theatre.
Launched with funds from the Everyman Supporters Club — including many high-profile members — the group continued with the help of grants, donations and revenue from ticket sales.
Everyman and Playhouse Youth Theatre
On 25 November 2006 the Youth Theatre returned to its original home to become the Everyman and Playhouse Youth Theatre.
YEP — Young Everyman Playhouse
The organisation was subsequently relaunched and rebranded as YEP — Young Everyman Playhouse — in 2012.
Notable alumni
Many notable actors, musicians, writers, and other entertainers developed their interest in the performing arts at the Youth Theatre, such as
Les Bubb,
Malandra Burrows,
Stephen Graham,
["Is this it?"](_blank)
''Guardian.co.uk'', 30 May 2009 (Retrieved: 17 July 2009)[Barkham, Patrick]
"'Gizza job, CBeebies'"
''Guardian.co.uk'', 1 July 2009 (Retrieved: 17 July 2009) Ian Hart,
,
[Jones, Catherine]
"We’ve got talent! £25m Culture project launched"
''LiverpoolEcho.co.uk'', 23 September 2008 (Retrieved: 17 July 2009) Spencer Leigh, the McGann brothers (
Joe,
Mark,
Paul, and
Stephen
Stephen or Steven is an English given name, first name. It is particularly significant to Christianity, Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is w ...
),
,
,
,
Angie Sammons,
Michael Starke,
[Grant, Peter]
"Visions of youth"
''icLiverpool.co.uk'', 15 September 2006 (Retrieved: 17 July 2009) Heidi Thomas, and
Cathy Tyson.
References and notes
External links
YEP — Young Everyman Plahouse''EverymanPlayhouse.com''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Everyman And Playhouse Youth Theatre
Theatres in Liverpool
Youth theatre companies